AUTHORS: SRUJIT BIRADAWADA, LAWRENCE OSEI
During six sigma learning, the team designed a cell phone by using six sigma methodologies. The team used six sigma (DMADV) processes to Define, Measure, Analyze, Define and Verify to make a new Cellphone with some specifications.
As the name proposes, smartphones have more smarter abilities than cellular phones, giving then extra, now crucial capacities like web browsing, multimedia entertainment, games and so on – much like small scale PCs, just sufficiently little to fit in our pocket. Smartphones showed up in the business near to two decades prior as the distinct option for cellular phones, which convey the essential capacity to empower just two-route correspondence by text or calls. The smartphones of today have other amplified abilities incorporating in-built high-quality camera lenses, mobile apps that aid productivity, video-streaming as well as connectivity that enable millions to stay connected while on the go. The team defines cell phone as the phone that can make and receive telephone calls overs a radio link while moving around geographic area. The phone supports a wide variety of other services such as text messaging, mms, emails, internet access, short-range wireless communications (Infrared, Bluetooth) business applications, gaming, and photography. Mobile phones that offer these and more general computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones.
DEFINE PHASE
This phase focuses on the scope and the aim of the project. During the define phase, the typical activity is to gather voice of the customer (VOC) through brainstorming. The customers may be any stakeholder relevant to the project, including students, graduates, retired, employed, self-employed and homemaker. The identified customers are those who have various forms of cell phone (i.e. iPhone, android, windows, and blackberry phones etc.). After the brainstorming process, the team gathered important features that are important to the customers. The features identified are water proof, finger print passcode, reception, battery life, and the cost. The identified features are the critical to quality known as (CTQs).
The goal statement of this project is to:
- Increase customer satisfaction
- To increase performance of the cell phone without increasing the cost.
Critical to Quality
| CTQs | Critical to customer requirement |
| Battery life | The battery should be charged once a day |
| Waterproof | Can be in 2 feet of water without damaging the phone electronics |
| Cost | The cost should be $850-$1200 |
| Reception | Good network coverage with fewer drop calls |
| Fingerprint | Does not accept fingerprint passcode |
MEASURE PHASE
Thirty two different cell phones design were sent out to the respondent to be completed in the form of questionnaire. The survey questionnaires are generally based on water proof, fingerprint passcode, reception, battery life and cost. Some of the questionnaires were administered over the phone and some were given to respondents to complete. The cycle time of the question was about 30days.The data gathered becomes part of the analysis driving the direction and focus areas for project. To effectively complete the analysis of the project, quantitative analysis will be used to interpret the data. The data will be analyzed by using the six sigma tools such as JUMP, MINITAB 17, ANAOVA and Basic Statistics.
ANALYZE
After data collection, the project now moves to analyze phase. The team used Factorial Regression: Purchase Intent versus Battery, Water Proof, Finger Print, Reception, and Cost.
Purchase Intent = 3.8125 + 0.4033 Battery + 0.3229 Wat Proof + 0.3423 Fing Prnt
+ 0.1548 Reception – 0.5610 Cost – 0.0640 Battery*Fing Prnt
– 0.0744 Battery*Cost + 0.1057 Battery*Wat Proof*Cost
+ 0.0670 Battery*Fing Prnt*Reception + 0.0685 Battery*Reception*Cost
– 0.0804 Wat Proof*Fing Prnt*Cost + 0.0595 Wat Proof*Reception*Cost
– 0.0640 Battery*Wat Proof*Fing Prnt*Reception*Cost
Customers will patronize the design with highest purchase intent i.e.488.10 percent. The 488.10 percent design has the following features, the battery needs to be charge at least once a day, it is water proof and it uses finger print as passcode.
The second highest purchase intent is 13.55 percent. The design has good reception, accept finger print as passcode, the battery need to be charged at least once a day and cost $1200.00
The third highest purchase intent is 3.13 percent. The phone needs to be charged at least once a day, it cost 1200.00, and the phone is water proof.
The fourth purchase intent is 2.09 percent. The phone is water proof, it accepts finger print passcode, and it cost 1200.00 and has good reception.
The fifth purchase intent is -6.4percent. The phone is not water proof, it does not accept finger print as passcode, the battery does not need to be charged at least once a day, and the cost should be $800.00.
The last purchase intent is -47.02 percent. The phone should have good reception, it cost at least $800.00, the customers do not care about the battery life and they finger passcode.
| Term | Estimate | Relative Std Error | Pseudo t-Ratio | Pseudo t-Ratio | Pseudo p-Value |
| Cost | -0.561012 | 0.176777 | -8.98 | <.0001* | |
| Battery Life | 0.4032738 | 0.176777 | 6.45 | <.0001* | |
| Finger Print Passcode | 0.3422619 | 0.176777 | 5.48 | 0.0002* | |
| Water Proof | 0.3229167 | 0.176777 | 5.17 | 0.0004* | |
| Reception | 0.1547619 | 0.176777 | 2.48 | 0.0321* | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Cost | 0.1056548 | 0.176777 | 1.69 | 0.1208 | |
| Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Cost | -0.080357 | 0.176777 | -1.29 | 0.2266 | |
| Battery Life*Cost | -0.074405 | 0.176777 | -1.19 | 0.2605 | |
| Battery Life*Reception*Cost | 0.0684524 | 0.176777 | 1.10 | 0.2983 | |
| Battery Life*Finger Print Passcode*Reception | 0.0669643 | 0.176777 | 1.07 | 0.3084 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Reception*Cost | -0.063988 | 0.176777 | -1.02 | 0.3293 | |
| Battery Life*Finger Print Passcode | -0.063988 | 0.176777 | -1.02 | 0.3293 | |
| Water Proof*Reception*Cost | 0.0595238 | 0.176777 | 0.95 | 0.3626 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof | 0.0535714 | 0.176777 | 0.86 | 0.4108 | |
| Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Reception*Cost | -0.047619 | 0.176777 | -0.76 | 0.4632 | |
| Battery Life*Reception | 0.046131 | 0.176777 | 0.74 | 0.4769 | |
| Reception*Cost | 0.0431548 | 0.176777 | 0.69 | 0.5051 | |
| Finger Print Passcode*Reception | 0.0416667 | 0.176777 | 0.67 | 0.5196 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Reception | -0.032738 | 0.176777 | -0.52 | 0.6115 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode | 0.0327381 | 0.176777 | 0.52 | 0.6115 | |
| Water Proof*Reception | -0.03125 | 0.176777 | -0.50 | 0.6276 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Cost | -0.028274 | 0.176777 | -0.45 | 0.6603 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Reception*Cost | -0.025298 | 0.176777 | -0.40 | 0.6939 | |
| Finger Print Passcode*Reception*Cost | 0.0252976 | 0.176777 | 0.40 | 0.6939 | |
| Battery Life*Finger Print Passcode*Cost | -0.02381 | 0.176777 | -0.38 | 0.7110 | |
| Battery Life*Finger Print Passcode*Reception*Cost | 0.0238095 | 0.176777 | 0.38 | 0.7110 | |
| Finger Print Passcode*Cost | -0.019345 | 0.176777 | -0.31 | 0.7631 | |
| Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode*Reception | 0.016369 | 0.176777 | 0.26 | 0.7985 | |
| Water Proof*Finger Print Passcode | 0.0133929 | 0.176777 | 0.21 | 0.8345 | |
| Battery Life*Water Proof*Reception | -0.011905 | 0.176777 | -0.19 | 0.8526 | |
| Water Proof*Cost | 0.0029762 | 0.176777 | 0.05 | 0.9629 |
Dependent Variable *5
Battery and finger print
From the above table, the best purchase intent is the p-values that are less than 10 percent. From the respondent, you can deduce that battery and finger print has 5.9% p-value. The customers want battery life that need to be charged at least once a day and it can sustain them throughout the day . The finger print is another factor that the customers also look at.
Battery and cost
This design has p-value of 3.1percent .the design has battery life and cost. The customers look at the battery life and cost. The battery should be charged at least once a day. The cost of the phone should be reasonable. The company should find the average price that the customers are willing to pay for the ideal phone. The phone company should look at the age, income level to determine the phone price.
Battery, water proof and cost
This 3 way interactions has p-value of 4.0%. The battery should be charged at least once. The phone should be water proof and can submerge into 2 feet of water without damaging the phone electronics. The customers also place emphasis on the cost.
Battery, finger print and reception
The p-value of this interaction is 4.9 percent. The battery should be charged at least once a day and the phone should be waterproof. The phone has good reception to receive calls.
Battery, Reception and Cost
This has 4.5 percent p-value and the battery life should be charged at least once a day. The phone should have a good reception and reasonable cost.
Waterproof, Fingerprint and Cost
The p-value of this interaction is 2.1percent. This design has waterproof, fingerprint passcode and cost. The phone should be waterproof and can submerge into 2 feet of water without damaging the phone electronics. The cost could be between $800.00-1200.00.
Waterproof, Reception and Cost
This phone design has good reception, and cost. The phone has waterproof feature which can be submerge into water without damaging the phone electronics. The p-value of this design is 7.7 percent.
Battery, Waterproof, Finger print, Reception and Cost
This design has p-value of 5.9 per cent. This phone design has all the features including Battery life, Waterproof, Finger print, Reception and Cost.
DESIGN
As per the buyer review, the most alluring outline is the five factors implemented together at the current cost. This design is basically unrealistic to construct, as the features can’t be actualized together at same expense. The following best choice is the four highlights without battery life improvement. That is, the current battery life is agreeable for the buyers however alternate highlights like good reception, waterproof and fingerprint passcode.
When we take a look at the two-way connection, the reception and fingerprint passcode were the alluring highlights. Consequently, the best outline that can be constructed for the new cellphone is having good reception, unique finger passcode and waterproof handset at the same expense. Enhancing these essential highlights can be a pricey circumstance for the mobile phone creators yet according to the purchaser’s plans, they would create significantly more income, which would give more edges in the long haul regardless of the fact that the cost were expanded somewhat more.
- 3 days battery life
- Fingerprint Passcode
- Waterproof
- Good Reception
- Existing cost
VERIFY
Envision that a cellphone is composed with the accompanying highlights
- 3 days battery life
- Fingerprint Passcode
- Waterproof
- Good Reception
- Existing cost
Checking of this design can be made utilizing the business information and calculating the expenses brought about for the new highlight improvement and the income created.
Income produced – Costs for assembling (additional for new highlight development)= Profit created.
The design can be thought to be attainable when the benefits are significant and more than existing benefit. On the off chance that, the income produced is very little, the purchaser criticism can be taken for the wellbeing/betterment of the design.
According to the mean buy plan given by the purchasers, this configuration can be considered profitable
CONCLUSION
The above analyses indicate that, customers are more concern about the battery life followed by fingerprint passcode.
The best cell phone design that should go into production is the one that has the lowest p-value that is 2.1per cent. That design has waterproof, fingerprint and cost. The phone should be waterproof and can submerge into 2 feet of water without damaging the phone electronics. The cost could be between $800.00-1200.00
In addition to the above, the best design is the one with the highest purchase intent. In this case the 488.10 percent should be mass produce followed by the design with 13.55percent purchase intent, followed by 3.13 percent and 2.09 percent.
Designs with -6.4percent and -47.02 should not be produced because it has loo purchase intent.
Critical Review
1. Link to Strategic Imperatives
The strategic imperative of this case is Medium. The project will determine the best design that should be produce. The project has a great impact on the key metrics for the organization. It is very important to maintain the grip over strategic drivers of business as it ensures that leadership remains engaged during the long run improvements.
2. Application of six sigma tools
During the analyze phase. I did employ ANOVA to analyze the data. I will rank it low for the Application of six sigma tools.
3. Active sponsor engagement
I will rank it Medium because there is partial active sponsor engagement in this project to guide the project to the right direction to achieve major business goals. Class facilitator was involved in the project. He guided the projects to right direction.
4. Team actively engaged
I will rank it HIGH. The team has a clear understanding of the overall goal of the process. In this case, the team has maintained better understanding and each member are playing their role effectively and actively.
5. Broad organizational awareness of the project
The entire class is aware of the project and they are all involved in the six sigma project. Every team of the class is aware of the project and has a clear understanding of how it will impact their class grades. I will rank it HIGH.
6. Project delivered anticipated results
The project delivered the anticipated results. Everyone in the project is aware of the projectdesign, changes, results and outcome. I will rank it HIGH, because the system has been performing to expectations.
7. Project Completed on Time
The project was completed within spring semester. I will rank it HIGH. Completing the project within the specified time period indicates a sign of success. Short project duration boosts the morale of the team members and long duration projects make team members lose focus.
8. Successful Transition of Ownership to Process Owner
I will rank it LOW. The project was not transition to project owner.
9. Improvement Sustained Over Time
This is LOW because the improvement has not been sustained over time. This is new product that needs to be test in the market.
10. Replication of results
I will rank it Medium. The team has developed a thorough plan to show how the improvement would be duplicated. Changed management has been put in place for successful continuation.
Improvement
The project can be improved by identifying the benchmark in the mobile phone industry. The best mobile phone giant companies are apple iPhone and Samsung. The best design can be compare to the above companies to identify their core competence which can be followed.
Finally, product design and workflow adjustments by using Six Sigma and other tools can have a measurable impact on the cost and quality of the product. Six sigma DEMAIC process can eliminate inefficiencies and also can help the company to gain advantages in market share.